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I've been diagnosed with Anxiety back in February. Since then I feel like my anxiety is a lot worst. I have panic attacks waking up, walking around, listening to music, whatever I do, I have a HUGE panic attack and I get all anxious, I feel like my whole world is going to crash down on me. When I have a panic attack, my first thought is to self harm. I've self harmed before in the past, and I'm trying my hardest not to self harm. I want to beat it but it's useless. When I have a panic attack, a really bad one, I tend to have a asthma attack which is horrible because I can never breathe properly. I do have an inhaler but it makes me feel high and woozy. So I don't use it.

I have my very first appointment with a therapist in 3 weeks. What can I do for the time being?

Maybe see your asthma nurse/Dr and explain to them that the inhaler does help but it makes you feel all funny at the same time and see if they can switch you to a different dosage/inhaler. I know here there are different inhalers people have. Also I find when I feel panicky to hold my breath in for four seconds and then breathe out for four seconds. When I was seeing a counsellor they told me it helps if you can do it whilst looking at something that has four corners so your phone screen or a window would work well. The idea is along the top you breathe in whilst following the top corner to the other corner and so on for down the sides. so the top side corner to the bottom side corner then along the bottom left corner to the bottom right corner and then bottom right corner to like the top left corner of the side and follow it round like that till your breathing slows down abit it also gives you something else to like basically focus on too which also helps. I also find drinking cammomile tea helps me too. Maybe there something you could try ?

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I once read that the physical symptoms of anxiety are completely incompatible with slow breathing. All the physical effects of panic attacks like increased heart rate, shaking, stomach upsets or whatever happens to you, that's all caused by the adrenaline coursing through your body. It's really important that you DO take a few breaths. It really is the advice everyone gives you and I know it can be frustrating and hard to get the hang of. Look up a few breathing exercises online and see if you like the sounds of any of them, and practice practice practice when you're NOT anxious.

Sometimes though, breathing just isn't enough to get you through it. Distraction is another way to go with it, and mindfulness is an interesting tactic that I like- it's about grounding and being present, look it up and see if it's something you'd be interested in trying.

It might be that medication also helps you, so you should consider asking your therapist if they think it'll help you

Good luck! I hope everything goes okay for you, and remember, anxiety makes you doubt yourself but it does not make you ANY less capable than anyone else

It is great you will be seeing a therapist soon for your anxiety. They can help tremendously in teaching you ways of coping with anxiety and just being a place you can go to for support and confidentiality.
The breathing exercises that have been suggested do help greatly. I use them when I am getting anxious and they calm me down some. It is useful too if you add a distraction to them like the focusing on the corners of the phone (or any object with four corners such as your desk or window Etc.) Another helpful place you can check for ideas is our list of Self Harm alternatives:click here.
Not all of them may be helpful but some should be and you will not know if they help until you try them so go for it!
If you have the time, during the days up to when you see the new therapist you should try figuring out what makes you anxious and what about the circumstances make you anxious. When you know these things about your anxiety you can tell your therapist and they can help you decide how to approach the situations specificaly and with any pattern that they may recognize. Putting these in a journal with the times, how you are feeling before, during and after the panic attack and a description of the circumstances will help you keep track and will make explaining this a lot easier. I also find keeping track of when I notice I am about to enter a time of depression or anxiety helps me use distractions and other techniques as preventative measures which can lesen the effects of the anxiety or help avoid them completely.
Going to therapy can be nerve-racking but you are doing what you can for now which is the best thing.
I hope this helps and keep us updated.
Take care and keep doing waht you are doing to get help!

Hey all. Thanks for your replies. I've written down everything, tiny and major things that makes me anxious and when I wrote them down, reading back on them made me even more anxious, is that normal? I tried doing the breathing techniques and I find that it didn't help at all. I just think way more than I should be and I freak out over nothing. It's getting really tiring.